New Family and Old Friends, a Christmas Story
by noruas bombadil
Summary: a time of mourning is interrupted by the season of Love, Caring, and Giving. But can everyone really have a happy month with the amount of death and suffering that has plagued them in the last year? (Alita herself is crossed over but there is no option for her character in the menu)
1. Chapter 1

The snow of early December was all around them as James, Yang, Ruby, and Jorge headed for the bullhead. Yang had at first wanted to spend her time this year at home with her father but this year her father was apparently not going to be home. He was going on a vacation to Vacuo. He had said that he was tired of the cold.

That meant that they could either go to the Arc cabin of they could stay at Beacon with Weiss and Blake who themselves were staying at the school. They tried to hide it but everyone knew it was the budding romance between the two girls and the two former shade students.

"Is everyone packed?" Jorge asked.

'I'm good top," James answered. Ruby opted to simply nod with a smile and Yang said

"I have everything that I need." she was still sad about losing Jaune but she was determined not to let that destroy everyone else. After all, James had lost his whole family and he was back to his semi-chipper self in about a week.

What Yang didn't know was that Jorge had pulled him aside and convinced him that he needed to try and help Ruby and Yang get over Jaune's passing. That was how James had always handled stuff like this with his family and now he found a new one.

That was why James had taken to trying to get a laugh out of Yang at least once a day. It was hard at first. She and Ruby were still really hurt from Jaune but he eventually managed to get her smiling and eventually got them laughing.

The most recent way he had done this was this morning. When they went to James' room in order to get him going and to make sure that he was awake they found him practicing some of his throws with what looked to be a student that he had pulled in from the hallway.

He turned around when he heard them and the room was filled with an uproar of laughter. He had dyed his beard white last night. This was the first time that either of them had seen it and they found it priceless.

That lead them to the Bullhead where James was doing his best to be taken seriously when nobody could see him and not start laughing. With all of their bags on the bullhead, Jorge and James went go take the pilot and copilot seats.

It was a long but pleasant flight that Yang and Ruby spent talking about the new kinds of weapon dust that was being made in Atlas.

When they arrived James and Jorge were carrying the bags into the house when James heard something from inside the house. "Mama Arc a Bullhead just landed," it was a woman's voice but Yang had never heard it before.

James, on the other hand, seemed to perk up instantly. He dropped his bags which only kept from falling by Jorge using the force.

He ran into through the door and almost ran over one of Jaune's sisters. Yang saw him running into the Kitchen and turn to look around the corner. He didn't say anything he just held his arms open with a huge grin on his face.

The same voice they had heard earlier could be heard now screaming. "JOEEEYYYYY" as a woman literally herself into his arms. They spun twice before he set her down his hands smoothly resting on her hips and hers locking around the back of his neck.

"I never thought I'd see you again," James said. His eyes were wide and everyone could see that the only thing he saw was her.

"Neither did I," the woman answered. She was just as lost as he was, it honestly felt awkward for everyone to watch. It was like they were intruding on a personal moment.

Jorge cleared his throat to break the moment. When the two of them turned to see his team he said. "Everyone, this is Alita, my old friend."

"Haa," Ruby laughed. "You two look more than friendly"

James and Alita started to turn red when they realized that they still had their arms wrapped around one another. Even when they separated they were still holding hands. "I met Alita during some traveling I did a few years ago," James said.

Turning back to her he finally seemed to realize that she was a grown woman and as such now had a much more alluring set of curves. "Uhm," he said trying to find the words he was looking for. "You've grownupquiteabithaven'tchu," he stopped himself and managed to reel in his excitement enough to correct his rushed words.

"Sorry," he added rubbing the back of his head. He took his time and made sure to pronounce each syllable properly. "I said, You've grown up quite a bit haven't you," he said with clear difficulty.

Alita reached one of her hands and ran it gently over his beard. "So have you but I didn't think I was gone for that long?" she had a smile on her face as she spoke that showed everyone she knew what had happened.

James laughed lightly while trying to hide his embarrassment. He was about to speak when Yang who was holding in her own laughter managed to ask. "Did she just call you Joey?" it was obvious she was amused at the fact that Alita didn't even know his name.

"Well that is his name," Alita said with the same happy grin on her face.

"His name is James," Ruby added hoping to get Alita up to speed.

"That's right," Alita said with a nod. "His name is Joseph James Nylf,"

At this, both Yang and Ruby raised an eyebrow and looked at James. "She's right," she said

Now Yang does not like to be lied to so she took a step forward and with a fair bit of growl in her voice said. "When did you plan to tell us this JOEY!" she made sure to emphasize his real name now that she knew it.

Before she could get an answer Alita stepped forward placing herself between James and Yang. "Maybe he didn't trust someone who lashes out at the slightest inconvenience," Alita said

Yang was about to answer back when she realized that Alita might be right. In all the time she had known James she hadn't exactly been the pinnacle of self-control.

"That's not exactly true," James said interrupting the two of them once again putting himself in between them. "My grandfather and I share a first name so shortly before I came here I started going by my middle name in order to make it easier to tell us apart. My full name is Joseph James Nylf, but you should all just call me by the name that you know me by."

There was an awkward silence until Alita who had been silent said. "I've missed you," much to everyone's shock she proceeded to pull James into a kiss that resulted in the younger Arc girls and Ruby all pretending to vomit.

That pretending got worse when James left hand slid down Alita's back and got a firm grip on her ass. Not that Alita seemed to mind she actually started to hum happily. Fortunately said hand was then cracked with a wooden spoon resulting in James retracting it and breaking off the kiss.

Taking a step away from James Alita winked before she sauntered off making sure that she added a little more sway to her hips than normal.

James, once he was freed from his trance-like stated looked for who had hit him. He expected to see Isabao but instead, he saw one of the older Arc sisters. The look she was giving him told him everything he needed to know.

She was not amused by him and Alita getting it on in the kitchen. She pointed towards the door. It wasn't clear what she wanted but he knew that she wanted him to go outside. Once outside he found Ren cutting wood.

Ren saw him and motioned to the second ax. And the wood that needed splitting. James set about doing so and almost missed that Yang was walking up behind him.

"So lady killer, do you know what just happened?" She asked in a teasing voice

"That was an experience I hope I never forget," James answered still trying to think straight.

"That was her marking her territory," Yang explained trying not to smile too much at her adorably ignorant friend. She wants everyone to know that you are hers and she just made sure of it.

James wasn't listening and Yang could tell. He was still trying to get his heart rate under control. Shaking her head at this Yang went back inside. After checking on everyone she headed for the training room to work out.

She found Alita down there using the heavy bag. Yang was about to say something when Alita let out a loud yell and preformed a tornado ax kick that destroyed the bag altogether.

Yang was impressed, to say the least. It was clear that she had turned off the aura blockers but Yang had still never seen anyone hit that hard except for the few times she saw her father cut loose on the training bag.

Satisfied with her work Alita tossed the destroyed bag over her shoulder and started for the door. When she was nearly there Yang asked her. "Can you toss me a new one." she meant a new heavy bag from the pile.

With the Remnants of the bag over her left shoulder Alita grabbed a second bag with her left hand before throwing it at Yang.

She tried to catch it but the bag weighed at least 70 pounds. Yang should have been able to catch that with the strength her aura gave her but instead the bag slammed into her and sent her toppling to the ground.

When she managed to get out from under the bag she went to the wall panel and found where the aura dampeners were marked as on. That explained why Yang had a hard time catching the bag. It also meant that Alita had just destroyed, carried away and then threw a second 70-80 pound punching bag ( 100-120 pounds in Earth weight) punching bag without any kind of aura.

It was clear why she had done it. Alita seemed to think that Yang was a threat. She was wrong of course Yang was still having nightmares about Jaune she wasn't going to be looking for anyone.

And if she was it wouldn't be James. He was a good friend but he never seemed to show any interest in her besides the one time that they were both a wreck and trying to distract each other. That being said Yang was going to be careful not to get on Alita's bad side until she could get a better read on her.


	2. Chapter 2

James was still cutting wood when he felt like he was being watched. He wasn't sure at first but the longer he spent chopping logs the more certain he was. There was someone watching him. It wasn't hard to figure out who.

When James turned around he saw Alita standing in the window. Trying not to be too obvious about it James put down the ax and picked up the wedge. Lining up the shot he used one of his elbows to bury the wedge in the ax.

Then he used that same elbow in a downward motion to drive the wedge through the log splitting it. This earned him an odd glance from Ren who saw Alita in the window and simply grinned knowingly.

Now that he and Ren had split enough wood for the cabin's fireplace going for the next two days. James headed back inside. He was greeted at the door by Alita who handed him a cup of hot chocolate.

He returned her a kiss when he took the chocolate. This time there were neither children nor Ruby so no one seemed too disturbed. That being said the Arc sister from earlier was waiting with the same spoon from earlier just in case they got any ideas.

When they both leaned back Alita had a strange look on her face which lead to James asking her. "What's that face for?"

He was slightly worried that something was wrong but he couldn't think of anything. She smiled up at him when she answered. "I'm still getting used to the beard," as she spoke she reached up and gently stroked the growth of hair.

It wasn't lost on her that James hadn't shaved or trimmed his beard in a while. "You may need to trim this thing you have on your face," she said. That got Jorge's attention. He had heard of several people back at Beacon who tried to get James to shave.

Most of them ended up in the infirmary. And a few of them were able to remember what he did to them.

"I know," James said nodding his head. "I wanna go shoot my rifle, anyone wanna come?"

Alita seemed a little hesitant. There were no guns in Iron City and she wasn't comfortable the idea yet.

"I'll go with you," Jean said. She wanted to shoot her rifle too and so she was eager to go the range for any excuse.

Grabbing the case that Victoria was in James headed for the woods. Jean followed him much to Alita's frustration. They walked through the woods for a few minutes before they found a good spot. It had a good vantage and it was backdropped by a ridgeline. They didn't bother setting up targets since there were already some very shootable dead trees between them and their backdrop.

James had gotten through half a box of ammo when Jean shook him. When he turned to look she pointed to a figure that was watching them from halfway behind a tree. It took James a moment to realize what it was. And when he did his face went pale.

Turning to Jean he asked. "Do you have service out here?"

She pulled out her scroll and after a brief check, she shook her head no. "then start running," James said. By now there were three of the figures and they seemed to be getting closer.

Jean froze for a moment. She had never seen anything like them. They were bigger than any human she had ever seen and only a little smaller than the biggest faunus she had ever seen. As they drew closer she saw that they were wearing dirty brown and red armor and had large one-handed swords.

"I SAID RUN," James yelled as he loaded Victoria with a five-round speed loader. They were a little farther than he would have liked but he didn't care ammo was cheap.

Jean froze up again when she saw James start shooting at the men. Or at least what looked to be men. One of them took a seven six two by fifty-four to the upper chest and went over backward with the shock. It tried to get up before slumping dead.

Realizing that they vulnerable the creatures began to run. And they were fast, faster than anyone that size should be. James got a second shot off before they had reached them. The second shot felled another one.

When the last one was twenty feet away James rechambered his rifle but didn't fire. He waited until the beast lifted its right arm to strike at him and then he jammed the muzzle of his rifle into its armpit. When James squeezed the trigger the rifle put a round through the monster's shoulder.

The scream of pain that followed would haunt Jean for the rest of her life. It staggered back clutching at its shoulder just in time for James to swing the but of his rifle like a club and crack the beast across the side of the helmet.

The blow knocked the creature out and Jean could tell from the way it was bleeding that it didn't have long to live. "WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE?!" he yelled at her. Just as he did a loud howl could be heard.

Upon hearing the howl James went from worried to horrified. He drew his sidearm and after smoothly flipping the safety off he offered the pistol to Jean. When she took the gun James looked her in the eyes and said. "Run for the house, no matter what you hear. You. DO. NOT. TURN. BACK. NOW GO"

This time Jean did as he said and ran. As she doing this a large wolf being ridden by one of the creatures from before. James raised his rifle to shoot when he felt a burning pain in his shoulder.

Looking at his right shoulder James saw that he had an arrow sticking out of it. The one that had shot him was about to shoot him again when a laser blast came from deeper in the forest and incinerated the creature as well as all the plants in a six-foot radius.

Deciding not to overthink this blessing James dropped into a supine position with his rifle and fired. The round killed the wolf but the rider was to close for James to try and rechamber with only one hand.

James was certainly wishing he had kept his pistol but he knew that he had to act fast. Scrambling to his feet James opted for an orthodox stance to protect his still skewered shoulder. The creature tried the same overhead swing that the third one used.

This time James slipped the left and came back to standing behind the beast. As it tried to swing in a backhand swing. James slipped under again this time he countered with a heavy left hand.

The blow stunned the monster long enough for James to drive into him wrapping his left arm around the waist and tripping with his right foot. Landing in half guard James drew his pocket knife and stabbed at the beast's neck. The knife sank down to the hilt but it didn't do too much to. The monster swung his sword at James with reckless abandon.

James managed to doge the blade but was hit by the armored fist. James managed to wrestle the blade away and got his posture up. As the creature was reaching for the knife that James left in its neck James dropped a heavy left elbow on it, then another, and another. He kept throwing elbows until Jorge was pulling his half-dead body off of the now-dead attacker.

The next thing that James remembered was looking up at Jorge who was tossing a bloody arrow aside. "Jorge," James managed to groan. "Why the fuck was there a troop of Uruk-hai in the forest and what else is out there.?"

Jorge smiled lightly and said. "There are a few more surprises out there but nothing that would cause any problems. And as for the Uruks I had assumed that they wouldn't approach anyone from the house. They hadn't yet and they've been out there for a little over a year."

James huffed from where he was lying in the snow. " well obviously, I think they wouldn't have attacked us but Jean saw one of them and forced their hand." all at once James realized that he hadn't seen Jean yet. "Where is the kid is she okay?"

Jorge nodded explaining. "She and the others will be here soon. And she is fine, thanks to you."

James managed to lift his head and saw Alita, Yang, Catherine, Ren, Ruby, Jean, and Isabao all running towards them, they were mostly armed but that was no longer relevant. Looking to his right James saw the last Uruk-Hai he had killed. The knife he had stabbed it with was pretty much buried all that way into its neck so James knew he wasn't getting it back.

Alita got to him and quickly slid her knees under his shoulders and held his head off the ground. He could see the panic in her eyes so he reached up with his left hand to gently touch her face. "I'm fine sweetie, just a little banged up."

"I know, I saw the end of the fight," She said a tear falling from her face to James'. Looking back she saw the whole battlefield. She saw the carnage and she looked back to Jorge, "Is he gonna be okay?" she asked.

Jorge knowing why she was asking answered. "He has a hole in his shoulder there is going to be a scar under his left eye and he has once again broken his left hand. But other than that he should be okay,"

Alita nodded absentmindedly. "Good," she said. Turning to everyone else. She continued. "You may want to leave I need this man start tearing all my clothes off," at this Jorge bust out laughing and Yang's jaw dropped.

James for his part was trying to sit up only for Jorge to pin him by the collar bone. "You aren't going anywhere," he said. And turning to Alita he said. "And you aren't getting any. He is in no shape to start going at it with you, especially not in your combat form."

With that settled Jorge used the force to carry James back to the cabin before leaving him in the bedroom that Alita had been using. On his way out Jorge motioned for Alita to follow him. Once outside Jorge said. "I can give you a more organic body but it will be at a price."

"I'll take it," Alita said no hesitation in her mind.

"You'll lose some strength and you also won't be as durable. But I can make you into a functional human."

Alita still cut him off saying. "I understand I'll do it,"

Jorge rubbed his brow in frustration. "You always do this, listen when I built you to be a bit more impulsive than your sisters I didn't think you would be this impulsive. Think about it for at least a day. If you still want to by then I will do it."

Having said his piece on the matter Jorge went off to find Jean. when Alita looked back into her and James' room she saw Isabao sitting at the side of his bed talking to him. When she leaned in she could hear what was said.

"I know, but you saved one of my daughters today, I am eternally thankful for that. And I just want you to know that you will always have family here." it was Isabao. Alita had been expecting this conversation once she heard what had happened. Alita had been living with the Arcs for the last month and in that time she had come to know Isabao as someone who would instinctively mother any child that she could.

Almost as though on queue Martin emerged from his room. He had been napping but the commotion must have woke him up. He waddled down the stairs and by the time he was in the kitchen it seemed to finally register that he was hungry.

Alita watched the young boy running at a full sprint over to the freezer and after pulling out a frozen ham steak he sat down in a corner and started to chew on it. Alita had seen him do this several times and after the second time that someone had tried to take away the ham and got bitten she chose to leave the little carnivore alone to his food.

Isabao had just seen Martin and was about to go and set about trying to let the boy give her the ham. That left the bed next to James very open. Not for long however since she walked into the room closing the door behind her.

It was trivial to get under the covers without waking him up. And once she was she found herself staring at his face. A scar ran just under his left eye. It started half an inch from his nose and ended in inch into his beard.

It was a new battle scar and Alita liked it. It was proof that she was right about him. Snuggling in as best she could without digging any of her metal parts into him she settled down and got some sleep. James and the others had arrived a little after four and James had been shooting at five only to be attacked and almost killed ten minutes later.

He needed his sleep and if he woke up then maybe they could have some fun Jorge's advice be damned.


	3. Chapter 3

Yang went back outside after she put on her gauntlets. She had been out front making snowmen with Petra when she heard the gunfire. That led her to join the group heading to investigate.

After they found James Alita made her plans for him very clear. Yang was shocked, to say the least. But she had put that behind her in order to pursue a slightly more important goal. She went back out to where James and Jean had been and searched around.

After a few minutes of searching, she found Victoria where James had dropped her in the snow. It was simple enough to manually extract the remaining round from the rifle. And sling it over her shoulder.

She was about to turn back when she felt drawn deeper into the woods. She tracked the carnage back to where James and Jean had been shooting. Then she saw a large burn mark. Assuming that the origin was a circular weapon she moved until she had an idea where it came from.

The route lead her to the small hills that were a few minutes walking away from the battlefield. As she drew closer she saw him.

He was massive, at least fifty feet tall and nearly half as wide in the shoulders. He looked like a robot but he moved more fluidly than any robot that she had ever seen. He had what she could only assume was a weapon on some kind in his right hand.

It glowed with a dark purple light, as did his the symbol on his chest. He looked to be mostly steel but parts of his forearm and shoulders were seemingly made of rock. What stood out to her most was his eyes.

They were two different colors. One was a light blue, and the other was a burning red. He was surveying the forest and hadn't seemed to notice Yang yet. Or maybe he had and just didn't care.

Ducking behind a tree Yang reached into her jacket and pulled out her scroll. She tried to call Jorge but he didn't answer so she called James. He wasn't a smart as Jorge but he might know what she was looking at.

The scroll rang several times and Yang was starting to doubt if it was actually going to be answered. That was when James answered it and when Yang tried to see him she was meet with his ear.

She didn't know why he was holding his scroll to his ear with the video call mode on but whatever "James I am out where you got attacked and I am looking at large robot thing?"

James seemed to know what she was getting at so he answered her before she asked the question. "I know, that's just Steve the Vehicon, he's fine. I meet him after he suffered a severe head trauma. Poor guy didn't know his own name so we named him Steve. Look, Yang, he won't attack you if you aren't rude to him so I'm going back to sleep."

The call dropped and she turned back to "Steve" he had left but Yang was able to follow his large tracks to a large cave. Inside she saw him, he was sitting on a stone stool leaned up against the wall. He had a large book in his hands and after a few seconds of her watching him read from the mouth of the cave he spoke.

"If you insist on watching me do try and be quiet about it," he said. His voice was chilling. It sounded like a hiss mixed with a growl that somebody threw a lion into for good measure.

Taking a step forward Yang asked. "Are you Steve the Vehicon?"

He sighed and closed the book. Turning to her he looked like he was about to answer when he seemed to have an epiphany. "Yes," he said with a mildly unsettling smile on his face. "My name is Steve. Now since you won't be quiet leave my cave."

Yang crossed her arms and leaned against the wall of the cave. She wasn't going anywhere and he knew it. "Are you one of this planet's warriors. These hunters I've heard of?" he asked

With a proud smile, Yang said. "Yes I am tough guy, what are you going to do about it."

The smile from before returned as he reached over and calmly flicked Yang with a finger that was bigger than she was. She was launched from the cave and stopped only when she hit a tree.

Picking herself back up she headed back into the cave and resumed her previous place. She was gonna stand here until he got used to it. Who the hell was he to tell her where she could and couldn't stand.

When he saw her Steve leaned back down and flicked her again. This time when she came back her hair was on fire. This got Steve's attention, he was impressed with her tenacity and he also didn't want his books getting burned so he nodded at her slightly before closing the book he was reading.

"I like you human," he said setting the book down on a stone table as he rose to his feet. He barely fit in the cave but that didn't stop him from shuffling outside and stretching out to his full height.

"Walk with me," he said. His tone left no room for argument but Yang didn't think he would do anything if she refused. That being said his stride was greater than her's so she needed to run faster to keep up with him.

"I was one a Warlord you know?" Steve said "I spent more time than I would like fighting my brother. I was fighting him to save him from him."

Recognizing how confusing that may have sounded he chuckled emptily and continued. " and now that the war is over I wonder if I was ever really doing the right thing. I wanted a better world for Orion but the only way I could do that was with force and he wouldn't let me." realizing that he was just rambling he stopped.

"I can tell you are an impulsive one who lets her anger get the better of her sometimes, you are far too much like me in that way," he said. By now they had reached a clearing that seemed to be some kind of training grounds. "I think we should begin with the basic, don't you?" he asked.

…

Ren was putting his hat on when Ruby asked him. "Where are you going this late Ren?"

Understanding her confusion Ren explained. "Nora and I don't actually live here. We live about five minutes west of here," before he could get his coat on Ruby was fully dressed and by his side. Ren knew what was coming so he didn't bother to try and talk Ruby out of coming with him.

They walked in silence or at least Ren thought it was silence. He had tuned Ruby out when they left the Arc house. At the front door of the cottage, Ren slowly opened the door in order to not make too much noise.

Not that Ruby didn't make that redundant with her talking. " so how long have you two been living here this is a really nice little house do you and Nora still act like you aren't in love do you think you could give me directions back to the cabin have you heard about Blake and Weiss when are you and Nora coming back to Beacon I heard that you were a cage fighter is that …."

Her words stopped and her eyes lit up when she saw Nora, Nora was smiling as she walked over to Ren. the thing that got Ruby's attention was the fact that Nora was extremely pregnant.


	4. Chapter 4

Ruby bounced in place for several moments too excited for words. Nora for her part reached out and put her hands on Ruby's shoulders. "Calm down, let's go sit on the couch and catch up," she said.

Leading the hyper reaper to the living room they all got comfy around the coffee table. Nora was making tea when for when Ren arrived but she was able to add a little more of everything to make enough for Ruby.

After Ren poured the tea Nora looked to Ruby who was still fixated on Nora's very pregnant belly. " I know," Nora said breaking Ruby from her trance-like state. "I would never have seen my self as a mother but it seems that the world sees things differently."

Ren reached an arm around Nora's shoulders pulling her close and saying. "I don't the world is the one responsible for this," as he spoke he brought his hand down to rest over her womb.

Nora smiled back at him snuggling in she responded. "You were just as involved as I was mister,"

Ruby wanted to start her usual antics at the sight but there was something pure about the sight before her. Like this was how Ren and Nora were always meant to be that stopped her.

"When's the due date?" Ruby asked.

"Any day now," Nora answered. Before Ruby would start asking questions Nora started to answer them. "We don't know if it is a boy or a girl, and we don't have any names,"

Ruby was trying to think of what to say but she couldn't she was too excited. She was just bouncing in place and trying to scream. She slowly managed to calm herself down as she did she realized that she was five minutes away from the Arc cabin and the storm had picked up.

Ren was heading with her to the door when Ruby stopped him. "It's okay Ren I can get myself back."

Ren wanted to argue but she seemed like she had a plan. Once she was outside she used her scroll to call Jorge. Instead of answering he just dropped the call and sent her a text. "Don't move and close your eyes, wouldn't want to give you flash shock."

Doing as she was told she waited and soon there as a clear. "_SNAP_" when she opened her eyes she was back in the Arc cabin. Just as she was about to ask somebody about it Yang came in through the back door. She looked tired but satisfied like she knew that she had earned her pain.

…

James woke up so the smell of bacon and eggs. When he tried to move, he was met with resistance that he soon learned was from Alita who was curled up with him. They were a tangled mess of limbs but he was able to get his left arm out.

Flexing the hand he was shocked to feel no pain. He knew that he was a fast mender but this was unheard of. His movements had awoken Alita who was trying for all she was worth to stay asleep. Looking at the clock James saw that it was seven-thirty in the morning and decided that he would let Alita sleep in.

With great difficulty and against some slight protest he managed to untangle himself and give the now mildly annoyed girl a pillow to hold instead. Making his way into the kitchen James saw Isabao and Jorge making breakfast.

James wasn't sure what it was but something about Isabao seemed different. The way she moved seemed a little off. But he chose not to pay any head to that. After all, he had barely known her for a few hours so maybe he was still getting a read for her.

Sitting down at the table he saw that he was the only one up other than Jorge and Isabao. "Morning Chitlin," Isabao said as she handed him a cup of coffee. Doing his best to answer through his still asleep body James said. "Morning," as he spoke he was stopped by Yang plopping down next to him.

She was more awake than him but still not really social yet. Shaking her head she looked back at James and pointed at the side of his neck. James didn't know what she meant to he just sat there trying to understand.

After she spent a few seconds looking at him Isabao smiled and said. "Yes, that is what it looks like." Yang nodded before she took the coffee she too was handed.

James turned to Jorge and gave a look that asked the question for him. "You've got a hickey on your neck."

It wasn't hard to know where that came from he wasn't sure how long he was asleep but he remembered a few times that he and Alita had done some kissing. There may have been more but James honestly didn't remember.

Next, he held up his left hand and after flexing it he managed to get his mouth to work properly. "I broke this like yesterday, or maybe two days ago. How is this not still broken?"

Jorge nodded like he knew where this talk was going. " Alita wanted a human body, so when you were still asleep I gave her one. She lost her combat form but she is now fully human as she was before she was augmented. That left somewhat of a power imbalance so I needed to add power somewhere. As such the two of you are basically spartan IIs."

By the time he was done James was speechless. In her combat form, Alita was practically immortal. The fact that she gave that up for him had him beyond words. He almost missed the second part of what Jorge had said. Looking back at his hand he said. "So I'm probably never going to break this hand again?"

Jorge nodded a yes and went back to what he was doing. "Breakfast won't be ready for a little while so you two may want to find something else to do." James understood and headed for the dojo. He wanted to see just what he could do now. That lead to him accidentally knocking the punching bag off of its rope with a lead hook.

Yang had since joined him and seemed to have the same idea as him. She went over to her spot on the mat and dropped into a fighting stance. James thought about fighting her but instead went over to the wall panel and made sure that Aura blockers were off. Yang didn't seem to know what a spartan II was but he did. If he was right then this was now fair fight.

Once he was back in position across the mat from her they began. Yang lunged forward trying to pressure him into making a mistake. In response to this James dropped into a double leg that Yang sprawled on.

The next thing Yang saw was Jorge shining a flashlight in her eyes. Once she was sitting up she looked at James and asked. "What happened?" James showed her a video of her dropping her hand and turning her hips to sprawl when instead of finishing his double James launched an overhand left that cracked Yang directly behind the ear.

The blow shut the lights off before Yang even had a chance to activate her semblance. And she watched in horror as her body went limp and crashed face-first into the mat. James then rolled her over and tried to wake her up only to realize that she was out cold and so he called Jorge.

Jorge laughed when he saw what had happened like he had expected something similar. And after he poured a cup of water from the sink he unceremoniously threw the water in Yang's face.

She sat up coughing and gagging just in time for Jorge to start giving her Concussion Treatment. He could tell from her eyes that she was indeed concussed but her aura would fix the damage soon enough.

Yang looked from the screen to James. "YOu HIT ME!" she yelled "you've never hit me before," she continued.

James shrugged and said. "I've always been worried about breaking my hand."

The more Yang thought about it the more it made sense. "What did you do to your hand anyway?" she asked.

Before James could answer Alita chimed in from where she had been standing. Yang didn't notice her but neither had James so she wasn't too concerned. " He was walking home one night and a wild dog attacked him, this maniac shoved his left hand down its throat so that he could hit the damned thing with his right," she had a smile on her face like she found it funny but so did James.

'"YOU WHAT!" Yang shouted.

James smiled and nodded before he seemed to remember something. He pulled up his shirt and said. "Hey Alita look at this I got stabbed," he pointed to the mostly healed wound from Blake as he did so.

Alita seemed impressed by that so she smiled and went to pull up her own shirt only to realize that she was, in fact, human and that her scars didn't transfer over. She also realized that she needed a bra since she accidentally flashed the whole room in the process.

James didn't seem to mind but Yang certainly did. "We need to get you some clothes," she said.

Alita nodded like she knew what Yang meant and stepped out onto the mat. Looking at James she cocked one of her eyebrows at him like she was trying to tell him something. And he understood.

Stepping into position James dropped into an unusual fighting stance. This one was much lower than any he had used before. Alita did the same and with a shared nod the fight was on. Yang watched with great interest as the two of them began to circle around each other.

James moved first driving in for his favorite double leg. Alita counted by giving up the takedown in order to grab one of James' arms and try for a Kimura. She wasn't able to get it so she shifted around James' side to grab the inside of the left that matched the arms she was attacking.

Sliding her opposite leg free she rolled to the same side at the now trapped leg and rolled James into side control. James tried to counter by rolling into a single leg but Alita sprawled on it and soon had moved to where she had Jame's back.

She tried to snake her arm in for a choke but soon deiced that she wasn't going to get anywhere like that so instead, she grabbed his left arm and went for an armbar.

James' did his best to stand up while she was unbalanced but she held on and was soon trying to fight out of the armbar. He did but in doing so he fought his way into a triangle choke. This also shoved his face directly in between Alita's legs which wasn't doing him any favors.

James countered by lifting her into the air and Yang was already cringing in pain at the slam that was coming. She was shocked to see Alita grabbed the trapped arm and after shifting the opposite leg over James' head.

The sudden weight made James drop to one of his knees in order to avoid falling over completely. Now using her free leg she lifted at the inside of his thigh lifting him just enough to get him onto his side and into a Kimura.

Yang could tell that there was no getting out of this since she had been in the exact same position with Jaune once. This meant that due to his arm and leg placement the only part of Alita James could reach in order to tap-out was her butt which was also being shoved into his face.

He tried to use the back of his hand to tap the mat but Alita blocked his arm with her other leg. Then he tried to let her dislocated his shoulder instead. Yang suspected that now it was more about neither of them wanting to lose more than anything else.

James was trying to not touch Alita ass and she was not okay with him trying to avoid doing that. When James tried to get his shoulder dislocated Alita didn't let him. She held his arm just below the point that would dislocate.

In immense pain, James gave in and tapped twice. With the submission secured Alita released his arm and sprung to her feet. Turning to Jorge she smiled as she waited for some kind of praise from her creator.

James also sprung to his feet with a look of frustration on his face. Jorge had a feeling he knew what was about to happen but he decided to let it play out. "How did I do Jorge?" she asked

"You did well Alita, but you should have been able to finish that armbar, even though you shouldn't have attempted it in the first place," he said with a slightly disappointed tone.

At this the entire room minus James who was conspicuously not visible was shocked. "are you kidding me that was perfect!" Yang interrupted.

Looking at Yang with a somewhat stern and somewhat serious look Jorge said. "No, I trained her sisters to be perfect and now I see that either they failed to teach her or she failed to learn either way the armbar she attempted was reckless and could have cost her the match."

Yang was about to answer when a loud "SLAP!" followed by Alita yelping in pain filled the air. Everyone turned to see James with an unusually cocky grin on his face and a gi belt in his hands while Alita rubbing her ass.

Turning to face him she asked. " And what was that for?!"

Casually tossing the belt aside James said. "You full well know why I did that,"

"Enlighten me!" she asked more than a little annoyed at the pain she was still feeling.

James leaned in close and started to whisper. No one could hear what he was saying but after a few seconds Alita started to blush and after a few more she grabbed him by the hand and dragged him out of the room.

This left everyone looking to Jorge as he seemed to know the two of them the best. "I think we should avoid whatever room they are staying in for the next few hours."

"What is with them?" Yang asked. She had known James for a while and other than the time that he had accidentally walked in on her changing and the time that neither of them would ever speak of again he had never shown anything like what she was seeing now.

"They haven't seen each other in a few years and now they are both adults so the feelings they were feeling have slightly further endpoint than just a kiss on the cheek," he answered.

The two of them had a lot of lost time to make up for. But what was going to happen when James got around to telling Alita about his family. He had team RWBY fooled but Jorge knew that their deaths still burned at his soul. He was hiding it for now but eventually, he would need to face it.

Isabao interrupted his train of thought with a text that resulted in Jorge leaving the room immediately.


	5. Chapter 5

It was late one Christmas eve night when everyone had gathered in the living room. There was quite the ruckus about Nora walking over while pregnant but she insisted. As such when she arrived she and Ren sat down on the couch.

Isabao and Jorge were working on hot coco in the kitchen. The Arc sisters were scattered about the living room leaving the chair for Alita and James who had become inseparable. Right now they were happily sitting together. With Alita on James' lap.

Everyone was talking amongst themselves. When James wiggled out from under Alita and stood to say." I think that on this Christmas eve one of the holiest nights of the year we should lift up in song in the remembrance and honor of those who are not with us this year."

Everyone knew that he had meant, it had been a long year with lots of people that had been here a year ago that no longer where. Bud was killed, Pyrrha had been murdered, Luke was missing, and Jaune had died.

Taking in a breathe James began to sing. "Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Steven,"

"NO!" interrupted him as everyone turned to see Corviste standing in the doorway to the living room with a look of rage on her face. "You get to sleep in his bed, but you don't get to sing his song. Spend Christmas with your family and leave Jaune's alone!"

With that, she stormed out of the room to overcome with her anger to stand still. Some of the sisters followed her others turned to look at James. Yang had begun to keep an eye on Alita.

If Alita knew what had happened to James' family then she may try to attack Corviste out of a protective response. James looked around like he was mildly confused before he quietly muttered something about not meaning to cause any problems.

Alita went right after him trying to figure out what was wrong. They made it to the room they were in and James started to pack his bags. The lights weren't on but Alita could see that he was trying not to cry.

Slipping up behind him she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his back. He went stiff at first and then relaxed. "What happened?" she asked. She knew James well enough to know that he wasn't going to break like this because a child yelled at him.

"You never meet my family," James said. It was a statement but Alita got that feeling that it was also a question. She nodded into his back to give him a response. "About two months ago they were…" James stalled out for a moment.

Alita turned him around and used her thumb to brush a tear away from his eye. James looked like he was steeling himself for what he had to say. Taking a deep breath he slowly and deliberately said. " About two months ago they were wiped out along with their entire village, there were no survivors," James chose to omit the mayor since he died just like his town it just took him a little longer.

Alita knew what he was doing. He was trying to feel anything. He held all of his feelings back and masked them by trying to help everyone else. A lot of that pain and anger was still there though. Buried just beneath the surface.

She would be able to get him to let go of that pain eventually but right now she was more concerned with helping him handle the pain he was in right now. She wrapped her arms around him and gently sat him down on the bed.

It was the second time they had used the damn thing since they normally slept in a nest of blankets on the floor but right now it was what they needed. She used her leg to shove the bags off sending them to the floor with an ignored thud.

Once she managed to get him to lay down she moved up and held him close as he silently cried into her chest. Somewhere along the way, he wrapped his arms around her and began to squeeze but that didn't matter. He needed to let some of his pain out.

…

Isabao heard what had happened and after borrowing Jorge's scroll she went to Corviste's room where she found the young girl sitting on her bed curled up in a ball of anger. "I heard what you said to James," Isabao explained with a stern but patient voice.

"He needs to be with his family and leave ours alone, I don't care if he helped Jean." the child answered defensively. She knew that she had overstepped but she had made up her mind and changing it now wouldn't be easy.

"Do you want to see his house?" Isabao asked. When Corviste didn't answer she opened Jorge's scroll and pulled up a picture of the burned-out structure. Handing the scroll to the girl Isabao said. "That's all that's left of it," as she spoke she swiped to the left which lead to a photo of James at his families' funeral. "And that's his family," she continued.

She left Corviste alone with the scroll as she went back to what she and Jorge were doing. There wasn't anything else that they could do right now. The rest was up to Corviste.

…

James had since calmed down and oddly enough it was Alita who was asleep. It made sense that being an emotional heat sink was exhausting. James went back to their bags and was about to start packing when he heard someone standing at the door.

It was Corviste and when he went to go back to his bags she made a sound that James assumed was her trying to speak. He wanted to turn and tell her to go spend time with her family but he knew that she wasn't aware of the pain he was in.

She was hurting just like he was and he had unknowingly hurt her just like she had hurt him. So instead he turned back to her to see what she wanted to say. She was trying to speak but she was too busy muttering at the floor.

In spite of the kind of attack this girl at thrown at him less than an hour ago, James walked over and sank to one of his knees in front of her. "What's wrong?" he asked. He could see the tears in her eyes he was fairly certain he knew why.

Gently using his index finger to lift her chin he looked her in the eyes and said. "You didn't know, I forgave you as soon as you said it."

The little girl nodded at his words but was still too busy crying to speak. Thinking fast he scooped her up and brought her to the living room. He got a few surprised looks when he sat down with the child in his lap.

They were both facing the tree covered in lights and ornaments with garland draped around it." I didn't know your bother for very long, I only trained him for a few months. He was a good man and you were lucky to have him in your family, I understand why you mourn him."

"Can you teach me?" Asked Corviste.

"Teach you what?" James responded.

"First, can you teach me that song, and second, can you teach me everything you taught Jaune," she said.

James smiled answering her. "I can teach you the song now but I will need to talk to your mom about the other stuff," he said

"So good King Wenceslas has three distinct parts, the narrator, the good King, and the Paige…"

…

Yang watched as James and Corviste sang by the tree with intense curiosity. Yang wouldn't tell anyone but she still had dreams about Jaune and she missed him so much. Yet James had lost everything and he had stumbled for about a minute and was now back on his feet.

She wondered if she would ever get to that point where she could move on but she didn't think so. She was still crying herself to sleep at night. The only thing that had made it any better was when she was training with Steve.

Something about what he was teaching her seemed therapeutic. Like it was an outlet for her grief. It wasn't lost on her that it was still Christmas eve and that she needed to try and keep a jolly mind.

With that as a plan she headed back into the kitchen she saw Alita standing just inside looking at the living room. She was watching James teach Corivste how to sing. She seemed pretty interested in the sight so Yang asked her. "What's so interesting?"

Her eyes never left James as she said. " I could get used to seeing this, James with a child I mean."

The way she spoke gave Yang the impression that she meant it. Even now in the shadow of death, there was still the drive for new life. It was a beautiful thing to behold. The true resilience of the human soul.

Maybe there was hope for this world after all. Sure it could be cruel and it could rip your life apart on a whim but it also made the chance for humanity to shine through the brightest. She was reminded of a phrase she had heard Professor Port used.

"Only with a hot fire can a sharp blade be forged," he said to them. He was right. When they all made it to the other side of their valley they would be sharper and stronger than ever before.

_**Hey, everybody, it's Noruas here. I wanted to wish every a very Merry Christmas. And to tell you that I will be putting the Jorgeverse stories on hold since I have been contacted by and asked to write a special story. I don't plan to do this a whole lot but this story caught my eye and It has already been worked on by a World Builder, and an Artist.**_

_**So keep an eye out for "the Frozen Bishop" done in collaboration with sketchywolf.**_


End file.
